This has everything to do with wavelength, where any obstruction needs to be on the order of at least half of a wavelength before it will even be вЂnoticedвЂ™.

ItвЂ™s as if the earplugs acoustically are not as present for the bass notes but work very well for the treble notes. вЂњEarplugs attenuate the least where they are needed the most, and attenuate the most, where they are needed the leastвЂќД®arplugs are wonderful at attenuating the higher frequency sounds on the right-hand side of the piano keyboard but are less than stellar for the longer wavelength bass notes on the left side of the piano.

Another way of saying this awful-sounding phrase, which is only useful to bring out at parties to impress your friends, is that an earplug only вЂseesвЂ™ some sound waves, and not othersвЂ¦ as much. Regardless of the material of earplug construction, they all need to follow a law of physics - the acoustic impedance of the acoustic inertance is proportional to frequency. And, while more recently semi-compressible polymeric foam earplugs have become the mainstay in industry, some workers (and many musicians) have opted for custom-made silicon moulded earplugs. But for the purposes here, we will restrict ourselves to external man-made devices designed to attenuate, or lessen, the level of external sound.Д®arplugs in the form of wound thread around a central solid core were available in the 1930s, as well as mouldable, or one-size-fits-all, plastic and rubber materials in the 1940s and 1950s. Of course, mammals, and a few other animal species, have the stapedial reflex which contracts upon louder sounds such as that of our own voices, and that has been around somewhat longer.

Hearing protection, in one form or another, has been around since the 18th century, whether intentional or not. Dr Chasin discusses the development of earplugs for the industry with the added bonus of physics for party goers! Whilst enjoying music, we also need to be mindful of the potential effect of producing music for the musician.

Flat frequency response earplugs